The Jungle Book

by Rudyard Kipling

The complete Jungle Book, having passed into the public domain, is on-line at Project Gutenberg's official website.

The Jungle Book

Published in 1894.

This is a summary of the stories in The Jungle Book.
For the convenience of Cubs and Leaders, many of the titles are links to a copy of that story.
To assist those working on their Silver bomerang, stories that do not have Mowgli in them are marked with "**".

Mowgli's Brothers A boy is raised by wolves in the Indian Jungle with the help of Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther, and then has to fight the tiger Shere Khan. This story has also been published as a short book in its own right. Night-Song in the Jungle

Hunting-Song
of the Seeonee Pack
a short poetic piece.

Kaa's Hunting This story takes place before Mowgli fights Shere Khan. When Mowgli is abducted by monkeys, Baloo and Bagheera set out to rescue him with the aid of Chil the Kite and Kaa the python. Maxims of Baloo.

Road Song of the
Bandar-Log:
a Poetic song

Tiger! Tiger! Mowgli returns to the human village and is adopted by Messua and her husband who believe him to be their long-lost son Nathoo. But he has trouble adjusting to human life, and Shere Khan still wants to kill him. The story's title is taken from the poem "The Tyger" by William Blake.

Mowgli's Song Mowgli's joyous song at Council Rock after beating Shere Khan.

The White Seal ** Kotick, a rare white-furred seal, searches for a new home for his people, where they will not be hunted by humans.

Lukannon ** The song that the seals sing when they are heading back to their beaches in the summer.

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi ** Rikki-Tikki the mongoose defends a human family living in India against a pair of cobras. This story has also been published as a short book.

Darzee's Chant ** A song/chant in honour of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.

Toomai of the Elephants ** Toomai, a ten-year old boy who helps to tend working elephants, is told that he will never be a full-fledged elephant-handler until he has seen the elephants dance. This story has also been published as a short book.

Shiv and the Grasshopper ** The song that Toomai's mother sang to the baby.

Her Majesty's Servants ** On the night before a military parade a British soldier eavesdrops on a conversation between the camp animals. (originally titled "Servants of the Queen")

Parade-Song of the
Camp Animals
** These verses are parodies of several well-known songs and poems of the time.

The Second Jungle Book


Published in 1895. (also at Project Gutenberg's official website)

How Fear Came During a drought, Mowgli and the animals gather at a shrunken river for a 'water truce', during which Hathi the elephant tells the story of how the first tiger got his stripes. This story can be seen as a forerunner of the Just So Stories.

Law of the Jungle A poem covering a few of the laws of the jungle that apply to the wolves, written in Baloo's sing-song style.

The Miracle of
Purun Bhagat
** An influential Indian politician abandons his worldly goods to become an ascetic holy man. Later he must save a village from a landslide with the help of the local animals.

Letting In the Jungle Mowgli has been driven out of the human village for witchcraft, and the superstitious villagers are preparing to kill his adopted parents Messua and her (unnamed) husband. Mowgli rescues them and then prepares to take revenge.

The Undertakers ** A crocodile, a jackal and an adjutant crane, three of the most unpleasant characters on the river, spend an afternoon bickering with each other until some Englishmen arrive to settle some unfinished business with the crocodile.

The King's Ankus Mowgli discovers a jewelled object which he later discards carelessly, not realising that men will kill each other to possess it. Note: some editions inadvertently omit the final part of this story, in which Mowgli returns the treasure to its hiding-place to prevent further killings.

Quiquern ** A young Inuit hunter and his sled dog set out across the arctic ice on a desperate hunt for food to save their tribe from starvation, guided by the mysterious animal-spirit Quiquern. But Quiquern may not be what it seems....

Red Dog Mowgli's wolfpack is threatened by a pack of rampaging dhole. Mowgli asks Kaa the python to help him formulate a plan to defeat them.

The Spring Running Mowgli, now almost seventeen years old, is growing restless for reasons he cannot understand. On an aimless run through the jungle he stumbles across the village where his adopted mother Messua is now living with her two-year old son, and is torn between staying with her and returning to the jungle.

The Third Jungle Book

This is a collection of stories about Mowgli and the jungle animals, written by Pamela Jekel & published in 1992.
The stories are written generally in Kipling's style, although she does have some more modern or detailed references than in Kipling's original stories.

They are listed here just for info.
  • Fire in the Jungle
  • Where the Elephants Dance
  • The Porcupine and the Poison People
  • Gargadan, the Great Rhino
  • In the Cave of Badur
  • Bagheera and the Spring Hunt
  • The Mad Elephant of Mandla
  • Jacala, Tyrant of the Marsh
  • The Ghost Tiger
  • Master of the Jungle

 

© 2010 Ian Moggs, all rights reserved.

Last updated 4th June 2013.
Feel free to use for Scouting and reference uses.

Email me anytime - i2 @ robian .net (without the spaces).